HI I'M AMBER

I like being regular and pronounce it “regler.” If I can get to the keyboard quickly enough, I’ll write out of the holy, terrible, and fantastic regular. I like a little house and a big yard. I whirl from child to sink to garden to spill, but I love to steep in different cultures and countries, too. I love to travel. Most of all, I love to write. I never questioned what I would grow up to be. Learn More About Me »

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a strange brew from 2003

I have so many notebooks, and Lord have mercy if I die, PLEASE someone find them all and (do not read them) box them up, and give them to my children after they’ve turned gray. I think it would take the maturity of the gray to muster up enough grace for their reading.

Ian pulled one notebook off the shelf yesterday. I hadn’t looked at it since I finished its last page in a wildly creative and weird 2003. Then, I was a childless, church-sick, budding theologian, and so much has changed since babies; now, my notebooks are full of grocery lists and shifting schedules.

When he pulled the purple spiral down, little scraps flew under the chair, and in retrieving them, I discovered a few things I forgot I believe in: a Refiner’s Fire, letter writing, and nonsensical brain storms. I like words, and I believe in writing them down – even if they have no correlation at all whatsoever.

I would die of embarrassment if you were to pick it up, but I would like to share a few of its fairly non-embarrassing moments with you this week, so here’s a letter I wrote to my cousin. I quite enjoy its southerness.

Dear Philip,

When I asked Daddy to talk to Aunt Josie about whether or not you were coming to the wedding, she said that you were. She also said that we were like two ticks on a dog – I guess, as opposed to two peas in a pod. Well, if I were going to drain the life out of something, I’d want it to be with you.

Thank you for spending time with me and buying my toothbrush and dinner.

Having to do with our conversation, I found this verse: Revelation 21:23 “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” This must be what happens after the crack-heads take over and the Earth glows red hot. I hope to see you a lot before then.

Oh, Heather. That would be TICKS, not sticks. :) Being the native Texas girl that I am, you created quite the word picture for me, Amber! Ticks ARE terribly disgusting, though. And they do cause dogs quite a lot of discomfort. Nasty, nasty little things. I know you're not really tick-like. Your personality is too colorful.

Umm, I think I'd rather be referred to as a pea over a tick. Ticks are a little,well, too blood-sucking for my liking. But that's probably just me being a Yankee. And Amber, I love your randomness. It's like a goody bag from a 6 year old's birthday party. I never know what you'll pull out, but I know it'll always be a treat!

"Well, if I were going to drain the life out of something, I’d want it to be with you." That is just about the funniest thing I've ever read! It sounds like a line in a smarmy country love song...aptly titled "Two Ticks on a Dog."

I love how southerners butcher cliches. One I hear around here all the time is "Six-and-a-half dozen of the other."

Janna ~ RD

I share the sentiment about the notebooks. I almost posted something similar on my blog a couple of weeks ago. But I was envisioning Laney after she'd born her first babe, and I was the one with the gray hair. Perhaps you are right though, and it would take more time for enough grace.

Oh how funny! Everyone needs a cousin like yours . . . love all the notebooks, yes, isn't it amazing how they change from theology to grocery lists! Or from God I'm so lonely to God, if I could just get some time alone!

Story-Letter

A Haines Home CompanionThe Monthly Story-Letter

This letter is for friends, family, and fellow-writers and artists who like the quieter ways to engage online. I'll be one part goofy to two parts poetry. I'll share my story with you and hope you'll respond with yours, too.